Consider the Wondrous
I spent the weekend in Frome at the first ever ‘Consider the Wondrous’ festival, created by writer Gareth Howell-Jones to celebrate nature, books and reconnection.
On Saturday I interviewed Dr Rosa Vasquez Espinoza about her book ‘Spirit of the Rainforest’ and her adventures in the Amazon as a scientist and explorer. She spoke beautifully about merging ancestral wisdom with scientific inquiry. For example, when she took the plant medicine ayahuasca, she says she felt herself morph into a jaguar and eat certain plants to self-medicate. That experience prompted her to research the field of zoopharmacognosy. She also shared stories of the boiling river in the heart of the Amazon, and her pioneering work to protect stingless bees and learn about the healing properties of their honey.
On Sunday I chaired a philosophical conversation between two eminent nature writers: Charles Foster and Mark Cocker. Both men are passionate naturalists, enamoured with the living world. We discussed whether knowing the names of different species is useful or not. Charles argued that naming is a colonial act, an imposition which reduces something’s essence, and always “falls short of the shining of things”. For example, if he tells us his son is called Tom, that doesn’t tell us anything meaningful about Tom or who he is. Mark contests that names are helpful, provided they’re the beginning of a relationship with a person or animal or living entity, and not the end point. We covered lots of ground, but my main takeaway was that we should get outside as much as possible, look closely at the nature surrounding us and appreciate the ‘daily miracle’ of life itself.